Railways Act 1993

55Orders for securing compliance

(1)Subject to subsections (2) to (5) and section 56 below, where the appropriate officer is satisfied that a relevant operator is contravening, or is likely to contravene, any relevant condition or requirement, he shall by a final order make such provision as is requisite for the purpose of securing compliance with that condition or requirement.

(2)Subject to subsection (5) below, where it appears to the appropriate officer—

(a)that a relevant operator is contravening, or is likely to contravene, any relevant condition or requirement, and

(b)that it is requisite that a provisional order be made,

he shall (instead of taking steps towards the making of a final order) by a provisional order make such provision as appears to him requisite for the purpose of securing compliance with that condition or requirement.

(3)In determining for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above whether it is requisite that a provisional order be made, the appropriate officer shall have regard, in particular, to the extent to which any person is likely to sustain loss or damage in consequence of anything which, in contravention of the relevant condition or requirement, is likely to be done, or omitted to be done, before a final order may be made.

(4)Subject to subsection (5) and section 56 below, the appropriate officer shall confirm a provisional order, with or without modifications, if—

(a)he is satisfied that the relevant operator to whom the order relates is contravening, or is likely to contravene, any relevant condition or requirement; and

(b)the provision made by the order (with any modifications) is requisite for the purpose of securing compliance with that condition or requirement.

(5)The appropriate officer shall not make a final order, or make or confirm a provisional order, in relation to a relevant operator if he is satisfied—

(a)that the duties imposed on him by section 4 or, as the case may be, section 5 above preclude the making or, as the case may be, the confirmation of the order;

(b)that the relevant operator has agreed to take, and is taking, all such steps as it appears to the appropriate officer for the time being to be appropriate for the relevant operator to take for the purpose of securing or facilitating compliance with the condition or requirement in question; or

(c)that the contraventions were, or the apprehended contraventions are, of a trivial nature.

(6)Where the appropriate officer is satisfied as mentioned in subsection (5) above, he shall—

(a)serve notice that he is so satisfied on the relevant operator; and

(b)publish the notice in such manner as he considers appropriate for the purpose of bringing the matters to which the notice relates to the attention of persons likely to be affected by them.

(7)A final or provisional order—

(a)shall require the relevant operator to whom it relates (according to the circumstances of the case) to do, or not to do, such things as are specified in the order or are of a description so specified;

(b)shall take effect at such time, being the earliest practicable time, as is determined by or under the order; and

(c)may be revoked at any time by the appropriate officer.

(8)Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by subsection (1) above, the provision that may be made in a final order includes, in particular, the imposition by the appropriate officer on the relevant operator to whom the order relates of a requirement to pay to the appropriate officer a monetary penalty of such amount as may be appropriate, in all the circumstances of the case, in respect of the contravention in question.

(9)Without prejudice to section 50 above, nothing in this section or in sections 56 to 58 below shall exclude the availability of any remedy in respect of any contravention or apprehended contravention of a relevant condition or requirement.

(10)In this Part—

• “the appropriate officer” means—

  (a)

  in relation to any relevant condition or requirement in the case of a licence holder or a person under closure restrictions, the Regulator;

  (b)

  in relation to any relevant condition or requirement in the case of a franchisee or a franchise operator, the Franchising Director;

• “final order” means an order under this section, other than a provisional order;

• “provisional order” means an order under this section which, if not previously confirmed in accordance with subsection (4) above, will cease to have effect at the end of such period (not exceeding three months) as is determined by or under the order;

• “relevant condition or requirement” means—

  (a)

  in the case of a licence holder, any condition of his licence;

  (b)

  in the case of a franchisee, or any franchise operator who is a party to the franchise agreement, any term of the franchise agreement;

  (c)

  in the case of a person under closure restrictions—

  (d)

  the duty under section 37(1), 39(1) or 41(1) above not to discontinue a railway passenger service, or the operation of the whole or any part of a network, station or light maintenance depot, before the date stated by him in accordance with section 37(3), 39(4) or 41(3) above; and

  (ii)

  the duty under section 48(3) above not to discontinue an experimental passenger service before the expiry of the notice period;

• “relevant operator” means any licence holder, franchisee, franchise operator who is a party to the franchise agreement or person under closure restrictions.

(11)In subsection (10) above, “person under closure restrictions” means a person—

(a)who proposes a closure in circumstances such that he is required by any provision of this Part to give notice of the proposal to the Franchising Director; or

(b)who proposes to discontinue an experimental passenger service in circumstances such that he is required by section 48 above to give due notice of the proposal.

(12)Any sums received by the appropriate officer by way of monetary penalty under this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.